Veronica’s daughter, Las Vegas based nurse Heidi Blessing, told RadarOnline.com: “I’m desperately trying to get home to help my family who have lost absolutely everything in the tornado that hit Phil Campbell.

“My mom has lost her house and her restaurant, Mrs. D’s, which was totally flattened plus my brother Adam’s house was also leveled.

“I managed to get my mom on the phone for a short time and she told me: ‘At least we are alive things can be replaced.’ “She just huddled down in the middle of her house as the tornado ripped it apart but miraculously she survived.

“Despite of everything we are lucky because none of my family were killed. Six of my mom’s neighbors perished in the tornado and the death toll now stands at 30 people.”

President Barack Obama described the loss of life as “heartbreaking” and called the damage to homes and businesses “nothing short of catastrophic.” He promised strong federal support for rebuilding and plans to view the damage on Friday.

Over several days this week, the powerful tornadoes – more than 160 reported in total – combined with storms to cut a swath of destruction heading west to east.

It was the worst U.S. natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.